Blow moulding machines for shaping plastic preforms into plastic containers are known from the prior art. Usually, such blow moulding machines comprise a plurality of blow moulding stations, within which cavities are formed in which plastic preforms can be shaped into plastic containers by applying compressed air. It is also known that such blow moulding stations comprise stretching rods which stretch the plastic preforms in their longitudinal direction during the expansion process. A wide range of drive concepts are known for these stretching rods. For instance, it is conceivable that the stretching rods are controlled by means of electric motor drives or by means of cams. It is also known for these stretching rods to be actuated by pneumatic drives. To this end, both an extending of the stretching rod, which stretches the plastic preform, and a retracting of the stretching rod are pneumatically driven.
In the prior art, however, such blow moulding machines have a relatively high energy consumption, wherein the drive devices for actuating the stretching rod are also noticeable in the energy balance.
It may therefore be desirable to improve the energy balance of such blow moulding machines.